Avoid these 5 mistakes when selling your house
Are you selling your house? Avoid these five common mistakes and increase your chances of making a sale. Finding a buyer can be stressful and time-consuming. You’ll have to endure having strangers in your home who are evaluating every aspect of your living space.
Trying to get your asking price without being bargained down can also be difficult. With the right knowledge, this process can be much easier. List your home on GotProperty for free and get your search for buyers off to a great start.
1. Making emotional decisions
Selling your house can be an emotional experience and you’re likely to have many special memories that are associated with your home. Rather than making choices based on emotional attachment, you’ll need to take a step back to gain a new perspective. Selling your house is a business transaction that requires careful thought. Viewing the sale as a financial transaction can help make this process easier.
Getting assistance from a family member or estate agent offers you an objective opinion. Don’t forget that potential buyers can also be swayed by their emotions therefore you’ll need to ensure that your property has an inviting image. You can use staging to appeal to the emotions of buyers as they’re more likely to make a purchase if they can envision raising their family in your house.
2. Setting a high price tag
Setting an inflated price tag for your home can be tempting for many reasons. You might hope that you’ll actually get lucky and find someone to pay a price that’s higher than the market value. Another reason some people use this tactic is that they think it will counteract buyers who try to reduce the price. While you may not be aware of it, putting up the price actually decreases your chances of making a sale.
In this case, your house will stay on the market for longer, which is detrimental to the sales process. When you advertise your house, you’ll connect to potential buyers but they’re unlikely to give your property a second glance if the price is too high. Once the excitement of the initial advertisement has dissipated, you’ve lost your chance to capture their attention. When people see that a home has been on the market for an extended period, they are likely to suspect that something is wrong with it.
3. Using poor quality photos
Online listings are one of the major ways to connect with hundreds of potential buyers. The quality of the photos you use can make or break your listing. With so many other sellers using professional photographs, you’ll reduce your chances of making a sale dramatically if your images are substandard. Having no photos at all is also a huge mistake. Photos should be clear and distinctive, and they must be taken when there’s an abundance of natural light.
4. Trying to sell your home during the wrong months
The time of year that you list your property matters. Do your research to check what time of year is right for selling property in your region. Making a sale is usually more difficult during the winter months. Likewise, the festive season at the end of the year is usually not the best time to put your home on the market.
5. Failing to do proper maintenance
While maintenance work requires cash and effort, it can go a long way towards securing a sale. Incomplete repairs are likely to put off buyers and they can also decrease the chances that you’ll get your asking price. If you have some cash to spare, you can even consider making renovations. You’ll get the most value for money by updating your kitchen or bathrooms.
Now that you know what mistakes to avoid when selling your house, you can get the process off to a good start. Advertise your home for free on GotProperty and connect with buyers across South Africa.
